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New search area recommended after experts agree MH370 not in current zone

Search was originally intended to finish in January or February 2017

(CNN)Teams searching for missing aircraft Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 have very likely been looking in the wrong place, a new Australian government report confirmed.

"Given the high confidence in the search undertaken to date, the experts agreed that the previously defined (search) area is unlikely to contain the missing aircraft," a spokesman for the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) said in a statement.

The report recommended that, based on new analysis, a new area to the northeast of the current search area should be searched, approximately 25,000 square kilometers.

"The information in the ATSB report ... does not give a specific location of the missing aircraft," he said. "We are very close to completing the 120,000 square kilometer underwater search area, and we remain hopeful that we will locate the aircraft."

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The ATSB's report, released on Tuesday, is the result of a "First Principles Review" meeting which took place in Canberra, Australia, between 2 to 4 November.

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It said there was a more than 95% likelihood the plane was not in the vast area -- the 110,000 square kilometers -- which had already been searched.

Extending the search area another 25,000 square kilometers to the north would give an even better chance of finding the plane, the November meeting agreed.

"Based on the analysis to date, completion of this area would exhaust all prospective areas for the presence of MH370," the report said.

The new search area was determined by analysis of new debris, flight simulations and MH370's last satellite communications.

More than 20 pieces of debris found

It has been almost three years since Malaysian Airlines 370 vanished during a routine flight from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to Beijing, China, in March 2014.

Although many questions remain around its disappearance, its final fate has been more or less confirmed -- new satellite analysis in November described how MH370 was spiraling fast towards the sea in its final moments.

Photos:MH370 debris

Malaysia Airlines flight 370 disappeared on March 8, 2014. As of October 2016, authorities have definitively linked three pieces of debris to the plane, while four other pieces are believed to "almost certainly" come from the missing aircraft. A flaperon from a Boeing 777 was found on Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean in July 2015. Authorities later confirmed the debris came from MH370.

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Photos:MH370 debris

Two pieces of debris were found in Mozambique, in December 2015 and February 2016. The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) said both pieces "almost certainly" came from the missing plane.

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Photos:MH370 debris

An examination of stenciling and other identifiable features were used to link the debris to MH370.

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Photos:MH370 debris

Two more pieces of debris, found in March 2016, were also deemed to have "almost certainly" come from MH370, according to the ATSB.

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Photos:MH370 debris

One piece is believed to be from the plane's Rolls Royce engine, while the other matched a Boeing 777 interior closet panel.

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Photos:MH370 debris

A piece of aircraft debris found in Tanzania in June 2016 and transported to Australia. The country's Infrastructure and Transport minister said it was confirmed as coming from MH370 in September 2016.

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Photos:MH370 debris

A left outboard flap trailing edge section found on the island of Mauritius in May 2016. In October, it was confirmed as coming from MH370.

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Since 2014, more than 20 pieces of debris which are likely or confirmed to come from the plane have been found, mostly on African beaches and islands.